


When The Bough Breaks

by Brightgemini



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Feels, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26404864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brightgemini/pseuds/Brightgemini
Summary: A year after she leave him and The Tardis behind, The Doctor shows up on Tegan Jovanka's doorstep in hopes she may be ready to come back, but to his surprise, she's not alone.Rating will probably go up in later chapters.
Relationships: Fifth Doctor/Tegan Jovanka
Kudos: 7





	When The Bough Breaks

He waited a year before going to see her. A year for her anyways, he himself had only lasted three months, which was, as Turlough delighted in telling him, terribly desperate. But he couldn’t help it, her second departure from his life had been abrupt and unexpected and had left far too many things unaddressed for his liking, particularly a certain complication that had sprung up between them that he had always unwilling, or afraid, to attach an emotion to.

The complication, as he thought of it, had actually started prior to the first time she’d left The Tardis. In the hours after Adric’s death, she’d come looking for a fight, as she so often did, to vent her grief and anger, but somehow instead of their usual row she’d wound up pinned beneath him, moaning his name while he lost himself inside her. It turned out to be the first of many such encounters, some transpiring from similar intense outbursts of emotion and some because, well, they naturally found the act fairly enjoyable. They never gave a name to their little trysts, however, never pretended to be anything more than friends, never discussed what they may or may not have felt for each other, which was probably why when the door to her flat finally swung open, Tegan Jovanka drank in his form with owlish eyes.

“Tegan!” He greeted warmly, a wide grin spreading across his face.

“Doctor!” She squeaked in alarm, eyes quickly darting away from him in all directions and then settling back on his face, like she was making sure he didn’t have some alien threat in tow, “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong?” His smiled faded towards a look of confusion, “Why would something be wrong?”

She seemed to hesitate at that, giving him a look as she ventured, “Well, no offense, Doc, but… you’re here.”

“Ah.” He winced, “Point taken.”

“Sorry.”

“No. No, you’re right.” He frowned, waving her apology off, “But I promise nothing is wrong. I just wanted to check in.”

“Check in? After a year.” A look of realization dawned on her face, “Because it was a year last time, too and you thought maybe by now I’d be ready to run off with you again?”

“No!” He protested, though it didn’t come across half as convincing as he’d hoped it would. The thought had, after all, crossed his mind. “No, Tegan, I just wanted to talk. Do you mind if I…?”

He motioned towards the door, asking to come in, but instead Tegan stepped outside, pulling the door closed behind her. Finally able to get a good look at her, he frowned a little at her appearance. She looked exhausted, her usual stylish blouse and skirt combo replaced with casual jeans and a sweatshirt that looked like she may have slept in it and there was something large and bulky shoved into one of her pockets. Something with an antenna that stuck out awkwardly. Her exhaustion was confirmed by the mild irritation in her tone as she arched an eyebrow at his staring, “What did you want to talk about?”

“Are you well?” The question came out softer than he intended, but he found himself actually quite concerned to the point where he actually reached out as though to check her temperature.

“I’m just tired. I haven’t been sleeping well.” She assured him, gently batting his hand away, then after a moment’s hesitation added, “I’m not going with you, Doc.”

Unsure of what to do with his hands next, he shoved them deep into his pockets, “No, I, uh… I thought not. I have missed you.”

“I’m sorry I left so suddenly.” She admitted, his confession seeming to soften her a little, “I’ve missed you, too. So much.”

“Then come back.” The plea was out of his mouth before he could stop it and he immediately regretted it as a look of what may have been pain flashed across her face.

“ _I can’t_.” She insisted, almost as softly as him.

“Why?”

She opened her mouth to respond, but the object in her pocket beat her to it, crackling to life and letting out a wail that he could hear faintly echoed somewhere inside the flat. A baby, he realized, heart sinking, she’d met someone and had a baby. That was fast. Eyes closing, she hung her head for a second, then steeled herself and motioned towards her front door, “You’d better come in.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t…” He hesitated, stomach twisting unpleasantly at the idea of possibly seeing her with someone else.

“Please?” She worried her lip between her teeth, then offered, “I’ll make tea?”

A few more seconds dragged by before he reluctantly nodded, allowing her to usher him into the flat. It was smaller inside than he had expected and a bit more cluttered than was typical of somewhere Tegan inhabited, but if he recalled correctly from his own long past forays into parenthood, having a new baby took a lot out of you, so a little untidiness was not worth mentioning. He followed her into the kitchen, waiting patiently while she disappeared into another room, reappearing moments later with a fair haired, round cheeked infant dressed in footie pajamas that he couldn’t help noticing were almost Tardis blue. Sensing a fair amount of anxiety from Tegan, he endeavored to put her at ease, leaning down a little to smile at the child, “Hello there.”

“His name is William.” She told him, sounding uncharacteristically shy, “William Andrew Jovanka.”

“After your father and your grandfather.” He noted, then frowned thoughtfully, “He doesn’t have his father’s last name?”

That gave him a bad feeling. As much as he dreaded seeing Tegan in someone else’s arms, the idea that someone may have abandoned her to raise their child alone was even worse. Tegan, however, laughed a little nervously, “His father doesn’t have a last name, Doc.”

“Every human has a last name.” He argued, frown deepening a little, “He’s not around, I take it?”

“Doctor.” Tegan stared at him, “William’s three months old.”

“I can see that.” He stared back, no less confused, “What does that have to do with anything?”

“ _Three months_.” She repeated like she was talking to an idiot.

“Yes, I heard… ah.” She was talking to an idiot, he realized. It had been twelve months for her since she had left him and The Tardis. William was three months old. Humans had a gestational period of approximately nine months. If his math was correct, nine plus three was twelve. His eyes grew round as he stared at the child… no, at his son, who stared back with wide blue eyes that suddenly looked much like his own. “You mean he’s…? Are you sure?”

“How many other candidates do you think there are?” She sniped, her shyness fading away to reveal the Tegan he knew and cared for underneath, “What do you take me for!”

Any other time he would have fired a snarky comment back at her, but for now he was far too preoccupied with being awestruck by the baby. His baby. “He’s beautiful.”

“He’s hungry.” Tegan announced, blushing a little as she awkwardly tried to shift him over onto one arm while she dug into the fridge for a bottle.

“Do you need…? I mean, I could…” The Doctor sputtered a little, noticing her struggle, then took a deep breath and mustered a little more confidence, extending his hands towards her, “May I hold him?”

“That would be very helpful.” She admitted, abandoning the fridge for a moment and gently maneuvering the child into his arms, “Support his head.”

“I know.” The Doctor murmured, half entranced as he cradled his son, “I’ve done this before.”

“Hold a lot of babies, do you?” She teased, retrieving a baby bottle from the fridge and setting it in a saucepan of water on the stove to warm up.

“I used to.” He admitted, careful to keep his voice as neutral as possible, “I used to have a big family on Gallifrey.”

“Used to?” Tegan echoed, turning back to face him with an apprehensive look, “You mean they’re…?”

“Gone?” He supplied for her, “Yes. All of my other children are long gone now.”

“You’ve never mentioned them before.” She noted.

“It’s easier not to.” He frowned slightly, “The day they were killed was the worst of my life.”

“I can imagine.” She frowned slightly, the very idea hitting a little too close to home. Taking the bottle out off the stove, she tested the temperature of the milk on her wrist, then offered it to The Doctor. “He’s like you, you know. Two hearts.”

“Is he really?” He raised an eyebrow, taking the bottle from her and beginning to feed the hungry infant. Staring down at his son for a long moment, his expression was troubled when he looked back up at her, “Tegan, how did you manage? With Twentieth Century Earth doctors?”

“Wasn’t easy.” She admitted, “But I knew he was yours so first thing I did was call The Brigadier and he put me through to some doctors at UNIT. They don’t know much more about your lot than anyone else does, but they at least know aliens exist.”

He grimaced, “I don’t know if I like that UNIT knows about him.”

“Well,” She shrugged, “What other choice did I have?”

“You could have stayed with me.” The words were out of his mouth before he had the chance to think better of saying them, but he meant them.

“Doctor…” She started.

“Did you leave because of him?” He interjected quickly, “Because you were pregnant?”

“No.” She told him honestly, “I didn’t even know yet. Just that I was late.”

“Then why?” He pleaded, “Just because it wasn’t fun anymore?”

“No, Doctor, because I…” She faltered, biting her lip, “Because it was time.”

“I see.” He frowned slightly, his gaze dropping back to the baby once again. Setting aside the empty bottle, he grabbed a cloth from the table, gently wiping his little chin with it. “I should go.”

“Stay.” Tegan requested, noticing that he didn’t move to hand William back to her or head towards the door, “Just for a little while. Please.”

He hesitated, glancing between Tegan and the baby, then smiled slightly, “Alright. I guess it can’t hurt.”

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews a greatly appreciated!


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